Despicable Me 2 Crushes The Lone Ranger: Weekend Box Office Report

Despicable Me 2 made it three weeks in a row that an animated movie has topped the weekend box office. Gru and his Minions proved too much for the other expected big film to debut this July 4 weekend, The Lone Ranger. The sequel to 2010’s Despicable Me scored an astounding $82 million opening, blowing away its first film’s debut of $56 million.

Add in the $60 million it made on Wednesday and the Fourth of July holiday, Despicable Me 2 has already earned a whopping $142 million. That is the highest five-day box office debut for an animated feature since Toy Story 3 earned $141 million. Given how we called the film "Despicably Clever" in our Despicable Me 2 review, looks like the rest of the country agreed!

The Lone Ranger did come in second place, although it earned just $29 million. Its five-day holiday weekend take is $48 million, a long way from the $215 million the film will have to make to break even.

The Heat continued its strong showing for the Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock comedy. It came in third with $25 million, bringing its total earnings to $86.4 million. That is great news for the female buddy cop film and the hopes that we’ll get more in the vein of The Heat in the future!

The last two weeks' box office champ, Monsters University, came in fourth -- adding another $19.6 million to bring its total to $216.1 million. Brad Pitt’s World War Z continued its blockbuster run, closing out the top 5 with $18.2 million. Pitt’s zombie epic has been impressive for a film that supposedly had such troubles. Its three week total earnings is $158.8 million.

Movie Fanatic was especially pleased with the showing of the stand-up comedy movie Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain. The rare stand-up comedy film that works landed in the top 10 at number eight, making $10.1 million… and with its early Wednesday debut, the film has made a total of $17.5 million.

Weekend Box Office Top 10:
1. Despicable Me 2, $82 million
2. The Lone Ranger, $29 million
3. The Heat, $25 million
4. Monsters University, $19.6 million
5. World War Z, $18.2 million
6. White House Down, $13.5 million
7. Man of Steel, $11.4 million
8. Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, $10.1 million
9. This is the End, $5.8 million
10. Now You See Me, $2.7 million